No. 92.

THE

SAILORS' MAGAZINE.

AUGUST-MDCCCXLVI.

NEW SERIES.

SAILORS' HOME, WELL-STREET.

We have great pleasure in laying before our readers a copy of the last annual report of this important Institution. In the remarks there made of the value of sailors' homes, and of the benefit they are likely to confer upon our seamen, we entirely concur, and are anxious to see them established at all the large ports of our country. It cannot, however, be disguised that there is a large number of pious, steady men, who prefer the quiet of smaller "Homes," in which they may have the retirements and comforts of a family, to a greater extent than is possible in an establishment in which from 200 to 300 are sometimes congregated. The cause for regret is, that such houses are usually kept by parties who pander to the vices of seamen, rather than seek to elevate their moral position. Still there are many where the sailor might enjoy the advantages of home, without exposing himself to the corrupting influence of vicious association; and as soon as our missionary to these houses is fully engaged in his work, we shall be able to direct the sailor to establishments in which such benefits would be found, and thus contribute towards the great object of advancing his temporal as well as religious interests. These remarks are not intended, however, in the slightest degree, to detract from the cordial recommendation we give to this admirable Institution, of whose beneficial working on the welfare of seamen we have a deep conviction.

REPORT.

It is peculiarly gratifying to the Directors to remark the indications of increasing interest in the seaman's cause which begin to display

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themselves in all directions, and especially to observe the progress which the plan of the Sailors' Home is making in public opinion, as attested by the fact, that a similar institution has now, for some years, existed in America; that a Sailors' Home, on a scale commensurate with the importance of that town is, at this moment, in a course of erection at Liverpool; and that communications have recently been received at the Office in Well-street, from which it appears that, in the city of Dublin, the friends of the British seaman are entertaining the design, or the desire of introducing a Sailors' Home into that port: testimonies these to the justness of conception which led to the formation of the Sailors' Home in this Metropolis, which are very encouraging to the Directors in the prosecution of their work, as they are likely to be very gratifying to the friends of seamen in general. Indeed, if it be an object, either to elevate the character of the seaman, or protect his interests, the foundation of any such attempt must (as begins to be generally seen) be laid in the institution of the Sailors' Home; the ordinary lodginghouse too generally proving itself a quicksand, through which the seaman is continually sinking into lower and lower depths of impoverishment and demoralization; so that either to rescue him from the sway of depraved appetite, to protect him against the consequences of his improvidence and thoughtlessness, or to benefit his soul, the first thing wanted is a place of habitation, in which, instead of being surrounded by those whose interest and aim is to demoralize and plunder him, he will, on the contrary, be removed as much as possible out of the way of depraved association and example, and be approached by persons who have it for their business, and regard it as their privilege, to consult his interests, both temporal and spiritual, to the utmost of their power. Here, then, is the value of the Sailors' Home: a mere boarding-house for seamen, it is true, according to one view of it; and yet, according to another, the simple but solid base of whatever valuable or extensive service we may hope to render to our seamen. To the beneficial working of a Sailors' Home, the Directors are happily able to testify as the result of their experience in the Institution of which they are now furnishing the annual Report. They can state, that a marked improvement in the character and conduct of the seamen has been visible since the establishment of that Institution; and while the sums, either deposited in savings'-banks, or transmitted to relations, are palpable evidence of its results, in regard to the personal interests or relative duties of the men received within its walls, it will be easily concluded, that its influence on their principles of general character, in instances not admitting of being brought to so immediate or tangible a test, has been proportionately beneficial. No less a sum than £21,500 has been transmitted, during the year, through the hands of the cashier, either to the seamen themselves, or for purposes to which they have directed it to be applied. It may be added, that the seaman's expenditure during the term of his residence in the Sailors' Home is watched with parental anxiety by those who superintend the working of the Institution; every endeavour

being used to protect him from the consequences either of his own improvidence, or of the fraudulence of those with whom he would be likely to have dealings.

The actual number of men who have passed through the Institution during the past year, has been 3,766; of whom 1,199 have resided in the "Home" before. It appears by this, that the number of "old boarders" (of men, that is to say, returning to the Sailors' Home after having previously resided in it) continue to increase; a larger proportion of the inmates of the Sailors' Home having been boarders of this class during the past than in any year that has preceded it. A more satisfactory indication of the working of the Institution could not easily be furnished.

During the year, the funds of the Institution have sustained a more than usual pressure, attributable partly to the high price of provisions, and partly to a variety of necessary alterations and improvements by which the health, comfort, and convenience of the inmates, have been materially consulted, but which have created an expenditure of upwards of £500 beyond the receipts of the year; a deficiency which the Directors look with confidence, in humble dependence on God's blessing, to the liberality of the public to supply. To one of these departments of increased expense, the Directors wish to draw a more particular attention. They have reduced the charge to apprentices to a sum wholly insufficient to cover the expense of their maintenance to the Society, at the same time that they have undertaken to provide them with gratuitous instruction in the elements of useful knowledge, including the science of navigation. The effect has been, that a large addition has been made to the number of apprentices boarded by their captains at the Sailors' Home. A greatly increased number of youths have thus been rescued from the contaminations of the class of houses to which they must have otherwise resorted; have been brought under pastoral care and superintendence; and been furnished with the means of attainments, at once calculated to be useful to them in life, and likely also to elevate their personal character; substituting an intellectual and scientific taste, in the place of gross and grovelling propensity. In connexion with this subject, the Directors have much pleasure in referring with thankfulness to the kind and generous aid of Dr. Ryan, who, in the winter, delivered a course of gratuitous lectures on philosophical subjects, illustrated by experiments, to the seamen and apprentices, which were cheerfully attended, and from which certainly much mental entertainment, and it is hoped also, much instruction was derived.

There is a library provided for its inmates in the Sailors' Home; for the present extent of which the Directors are much indebted to a variety of kind and valuable donors, who have added many a volume to its stores, and to which they respectfully invite the further contributions of any books which their friends may feel that they can spare, and which would be likely to be interesting and profitable to the seamen. contains, besides various books on nautical or other secular subjects, a

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stock of Bibles and Testaments, in many languages, with a number of works, of human composition, designed and calculated to commend the truths of Scripture to the conscience and the heart; in addition to which, religious tracts are distributed freely through the Institution, and are supplied in packets to every seaman who goes out of it.

The Directors cannot conclude this Report, without adverting to two circumstances, which, though not belonging strictly to the history of the Sailors' Home, are, notwithstanding, intimately connected with its objects. One of these circumstances is, the passing of the Act of Parliament, 8 and 9 of Victoria, cap. 116, which came into operation on the 1st of November, 1845, and which is a measure of the greatest importance to the interests of the seaman, whom it protects against those crimps and shipping agents who have been so long in the habit of making him the prey of frauds and impositions, which the law previously did not reach. This beneficial measure was brought into Parliament by the Right Honourable Admiral Sir George Cockburn; and it is illustrative of the connexion which exists between the Sailors' Home and the general interests of the seaman, that, while this Bill was on its way through Parliament, the Sailors' Home was visited by the Hon. H. Fitzroy, M.P., and Hedworth Lambton, Esq., M.P., for the purpose of obtaining information, which (gladly furnished and beneficially employed) materially assisted in rendering the measure that important benefit to the seaman which it ultimately proved.

The other circumstance requiring notice is, the prospect of the erection of a Church for the Seamen of the Port of London (in substitution for the Floating Church), in the immediate vicinity of the Sailors' Home. This church (as its name imports) is intended, generally for the seamen of the port of London. But it deserves remark, that it was the Sailors' Home, which concentrating and organizing a body of gentlemen solicitous for the welfare of our mariners, led, in reality, the way to this ulterior movement in the seaman's cause. The Directors of the Sailors' Home had, for years, felt anxious to consult the spiritual interests of the seamen of the port of London in an extent with which the mere provisions of the Sailors' Home itself were not commensurate. They had wished, for years, to procure the erection of a seaman's church. For years, they had sought, and sought in vain, for an available site, prepared, when they had met with such a site, to call the attention of the public to the object, and attempt the formation of a society with a view to its accomplishment. At length, then, this long-desired opportunity has been vouchsafed. The blessing of God has crowned the attempt of the Directors with a measure of success which at once demands their gratitude, and encourages their efforts; and the Sailors' Home is thus presented to the public, not only as an institution which has conferred already on the seamen of this port a large amount of direct benefit, nor merely as the parent institution which now is rapidly extending to other ports and other lands the benefits which it is itself the instrument of conferring